Coming off an exhilarating run to last year’s American Conference postseason title and an ensuing automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, UTSA women’s basketball coach Karen Aston says she feels good about the potential of her team leading into the new year. – File photo by Joe Alexander
By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
As the UTSA women’s basketball team started to win and pick up steam last March at the American Conference tournament, players adopted a mantra.
“We’re not done yet,” they said.
The sixth-seeded Roadrunners kept their word, emerging from the shadows in the middle of the bracket to claim the American’s postseason title.
“I don’t think we’ve had time to really think about it yet,” UTSA senior Idara Udo said in the days after the team returned home. “It’s crazy what we’ve done. It’s exciting what we’ve done. I think we’re still trying to soak in the moment.”
The tournament highlights were mind boggling.
Four wins in four days in Birmingham. Victories over teams seeded third, second and first, respectively, to close it out. A dominant defensive performance in the title game over a Rice University team that had won 28 games.
Six months after it happened, it still doesn’t seem real.
But it is a reality, as the Roadrunners prepare to take a bow on Saturday afternoon at the Alamodome. At halftime of the UTSA-Colorado State football game, players and coaches will receive championship rings for the team’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 17 years.
Fans at the football game will have a chance to cheer one of the fastest-rising programs in the athletic department.
UTSA senior guard Kierra Merchant is a transfer from the University of Houston, where she averaged 8.7 points and 3.4 rebounds last year. – Photo by Joe Alexander
In 2020-21, the women’s program bottomed out during the COVID pandemic with a 2-18 record.
Coach Karen Aston has since built a consistent winner, leading the Roadrunners to national tournaments in each of the past three seasons, including conference titles in the past two.
The Roadrunners in 2024-25 surged to a school-record 26 wins and the American’s regular-season crown. Last year, Aston assembled a team talented enough to win 20 again, but a rash of injuries in the offseason and during early fall training slowed the momentum.
Nevertheless, with the team struggling at 13-15 heading into the last day of the regular season, UTSA beat first-place Rice on the road, and then proceeded to storm the conference for the postseason crown, downing Temple, third-seeded South Florida, two seed East Carolina and No. 1 Rice over a four-day stretch at Legacy Arena in Birmingham.
In the NCAA tournament, the Roadrunners played on the home floor of the No. 1 overall seeded Connecticut Huskies and fell 90-52, finishing 18-16 for the program’s third straight winning record.
A new season dawning
During summer workouts, the Roadrunners focused on readying a new group that will try to make up for the loss of forward Cheyenne Rowe and point guard Ereauna Hardaway, two senior standouts who led the team during its spirited tournament run in Birmingham.
Both have since moved on to professional careers in Europe, Rowe with a team in Germany and Hardaway linking with a ball club in Lithuania.
Even without those two, the Roadrunners likely will be viewed as one of the favorites again in the American, led by the likes of forward Idara Udo, wings Mia Hammonds and Damara Allen and point guard Adriana Robles.
Forward-center Praise Egharevba, a transfer from Oklahoma State, is regarded as one of the team’s top newcomers. – Photo by Joe Alexander
All of them played prominent roles last season, with Udo, Hammonds and Allen coming on strong late in the season. The Roadrunners also should be bolstered by the return of three players — wing Maya Linton and forwards Taylor Ross and Sema Udo — who sat out all of last season with injuries.
Transferring into UTSA from Big 12 programs, forward Praise Egharevba (from Oklahoma State) and guard Kierra Merchant (Houston) have emerged as standouts among the newcomers in camp.
A concern for Aston is a lack of experience and depth at point guard. Robles is a sophomore, backed up at the moment by freshman Jana Ros from Mataro, Spain. Ros, who signed late in July, will turn 18 on Saturday.
Asked how she likes her team a little more than a month away from a Nov. 6 opener at UNLV, the coach said it might be too early to state a definitive answer.
“It’s pretty early,” she said. “We have a lot of new pieces, so as I learned last year, when you plug in … players from other programs, you have to de-program whatever they learned where they were, it takes time. I don’t think I have a bead right now on kind of where we are. But I do feel good about the potential of this team, for sure.”
UTSA roster
Sema Udo, 6-0 redshirt freshman forward
Kierra Merchant, 5-9 senior guard
Jana Ros, 5-5 freshman point guard
Damara Allen, 5-10 junior guard
Mia Hammonds, 6-3 junior guard
Amaya McDonald, 6-2 freshman forward/center
Rihyana Kinsey, 5-9 freshman guard
Sanaa Bean, 6-3 sophomore forward
Taylor Ross, 6-1 redshirt sophomore forward
Bhret Clay, 5-9 sophomore guard
Marie Han, 5-3 junior guard
Adriana Robles, 5-5 sophomore point guard
Maya Linton, 5-11 redshirt senior guard
Praise Egharevba, 6-3 redshirt senior forward/center
Idara Udo, 6-1 senior forward
Emily Hunter, 6-7 sophomore center
Non-conference schedule
November
6 – at UNLV
8 – at San Diego State
11 – Incarnate Word
16 – Louisiana
21 – North Dakota State
26 – Binghamton at Bayamon, Puerto Rico
27 – Howard at Bayamon, Puerto Rico
December
6 – at Baylor
10 – at TCU
16 – at Texas State
20 – at SMU
UTSA’s Adriana Robles played in all 34 games and started 17 as a freshman last year. She’s expected to take on an expanded role as a sophomore for the Roadrunners, who are coming off an NCAA tournament appearance. – File photo by Joe Alexander
Notable
UTSA coach Karen Aston acknowledged that depth, size and talent in the frontcourt should give her multiple options on how to play at those positions.
“Just getting them comfortable in the system and (determining) rotations, those types of things, I think will be important,” she said. “We do have a significant amount of depth once Taylor (Ross) comes back and with the addition of the transfers.”
Ross, in particular, seemed to have a strong workout in the first practice that The JB Replay has monitored this season. Aston seems confident that both Ross and wing Maya Linton will be ready to play when the season starts.
“Taylor is ready,” Aston said. “Sema (Udo) is still (in the process of) returning to play. Maya will be back. Yeah, Maya is good to go.”
Taylor Ross, a sophomore forward from Brennan, returns to play this season after sitting out last year with a leg injury. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Two years ago, the Roadrunners (26-5) surged to a 17-1 record to win the American’s regular-season title behind Jordyn Jenkins and Nina DeLeon Negron. Linton also played a major role and contributed heavily as one of the better defenders in the conference.
Last year, UTSA clearly missed her presence.
If the former Duncanville High School standout can regain top form in her comeback, the Roadrunners might be especially formidable defensively on the wings, given the speed and length of a trio that would also include Mia Hammonds and Damara Allen.
Aston also hinted that she hopes to play Ross at small forward, as well.
“With Taylor, it’s just playing,” Aston said. “She hasn’t played in a year, so she’s going to have growing pains in just remembering how to play. When I say how to play, I’m not talking about basketball. I’m talking about transition defense, what that looks like and going play to play.
“Those things take a little time when you’ve not played the game for awhile. So, where Taylor’s going to make so much progress is just getting to play in the game. It’ll be January before I think she feels super comfortable. But I’m very impressed and enthused about her progress. And (the same) with Maya.
“When you haven’t played, it takes a while to get back in game mode, in game shape.”
Guard Bhret Clay, a transfer from Air Force, is out for the season with an injury. Another guard not practicing Friday was freshman Rihyana Kinsey.
Six-foot-seven Emily Hunter is looking for a fresh start after playing only 14 minutes in eight games last season for nationally-ranked TCU. – Photo by Joe Alexander
